The Dark Days
by seagulls n soap
Summary: Before Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and the first Hunger Games, there was a war called the Dark Days. Told from the eyes of a sixteen year old girl from District 4 named Winnie who doesn't realize how badly her life is about to change for the worse.
1. Prologue

**So this is going to be my first Hunger Games story and second story total. I'm still kind of worried on how this is all going to turn out, so if it does really, really, really badly I'm going to totally forget about it. **

**Like my one previous story, I plan to update about once a week on the weekends, casue I still have school and I have to keep my grades up. **

**I'm also sorry about any misspelled words or grammar errors. I'm human, you're human (or at least I hope you are), were all human and we make mistakes. **

**This story is probably going to be about the Dark Days, as the title says. I'm not sure how accurate the summary is, because I usually change this around as I write. Have fun reading, try not to fall asleep please.**

**Read and review. **

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"_Giving up doesn't always mean that you are weak, sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go."_

Would you believe me if I told you this world was once full of life? If you had asked me that, I probably would have never believed you. I would have thought that your mind had gone crazy, for the Dark Days can do that to you.

But I've seen light. Not the type of light you get from fire as it blazes, or from a light bulb in a room. More like . . . . light from the heavens. Light that means goodness, which means God's watching.

There hasn't been light like that for a long time. People have forgotten about that type.

Even since the Dark Days, the sky's been filled with smoke from fires and explosions, grey clouds rain down bullets and bombs instead of rain and snow. You hear crying and screams instead of singing and laughter.

I had seen that specific type of light a few years ago, when the sky was sill clear and blue, before the president of District 13 came and told us about their plans of war. That day it was raining, and he came with several soldiers lined up in rows marching behind him. He had knocked on the mayor's door and then invited himself inside. They talked for hours, and when he finally left, I remember the sense of fear that was reeking off of our mayor. I remember the look of fear in his eyes.

About a month later the first battle took place. Districts Ten, Eleven, and Twelve had attacked a Capitol outpost near them, and had taken the Capitol by surprise. In the beginning it seemed like we were going to win, for we had won several battles, but then everything changed. It was like those first few skirmishes were just warm ups for the Capitol, and then they actually began.

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A/N: So the first chapter is coming next week. Read and review!


	2. Chapter 1

**So I was kinda hoping for more reviews . . . . but two will have to do. Seriously. **

**So thanks to everyone who reviewed! You don't know how happy it makes me. **

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"_For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else. It is about your outlook towards life. You can either regret or rejoice."_

I felt the ground rumble, even from this distance. Up in front of me, fire erupted as Macey clicked the controller. Screams and cheers filled the air as the adults ran forward into the fray, demanding as much blood as possible.

The capitols airplane slowly descended, one of its wings engulfed in flames. Still in the sky, several people jumped out of the fallen plane, parachuting down to the ground where they would be met by District Four's people. My people.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Stay back," a deep, scratchy voice told me, "this might get dirty." _Stay back. _That's all I was ever told. My father stared into the battle field were our people were already engaged in battle. The plane above us landed with a thud onto the ground, and then more Capitol soldiers cleared out, shooting bullets at anything that moved. My father rushed ahead, charging into the field, sword drawn.

For a second I was tempted to join them, get up into the front lines and fight away until I died, but my legs wouldn't move. They were rooted to the ground as if someone had stuck masking tape to them. All around me people were screaming, firing bullets, and spraying blood onto the ground. I heard someone move behind me. I reached into my boot and drew my knife, a small, pathetic looking thing that couldn't even kill a cat. Trust me, I had tried.

So I'm holding the knife in front of me when this bulky man comes running out of the bushes. He has several tattoos on his face and big, puffy lips, sort of like a fish. His head is bald and scars line up in rows on the top of his head. My father had once told me that soldiers wore their scars proudly, because it meant that they had been to battle and survived. I didn't want to fight him. He grinned, and then drew a huge black sword. He took a swing. Lucky for me, I was way smaller and way lighter on my feet, so dodging wasn't a problem. The only problem was that one hit and then I'd be dead, chopped into a million pieces. _Again, why did I sign up for this? Even if you stay in the back theirs a guarantee that you will have to engage in battle._

"Little girly ready to die?" He asked his voice slurred and choppy. I was going to reply "nope" when he took another swing at me. I sidestepped to the right, just in time. It was sort of scary because I was able to feel the wind as the sword passed. _This is really bad. _I kept thinking. _Make your last ―_

The soldier in front of me swung his sword so hard I had to jump back to avoid it, but that meant I also landed on my butt from the momentum. _Oh god I'm going to die. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. _I closed my eyes, ready to feel the sword cut into my body. But nothing happened.

I slowly opened my eyes, sort of afraid of what I was going to see, but when I did all I saw was the Capitol soldier, frozen in his spot, eyes wide from shock. _Cool, maybe I have super powers and I can kill on touch. _Slowly, the man fell, a huge knife engraved into the small of his back like a weed would grow out of a plant. Ok . . . now I was really confused. As the whole battle raged on, I was lost in thought, unaware of anything around me. _Had I done that? Was that man's blood on my hands?_ I was still to shocked that I didn't hear the footsteps creeping up on me.

"Like my ― "I turned around and swung my knife, but I didn't hit anything and it got lodged into a tree.

I pulled at it but it wouldn't budge. "Damn it!" I screamed, and then remember the voice and the footsteps. "Please don't kill me." I whimpered, refusing to look up and see whoever it was.

"Now, why would I do that Winnie?" I heard, and looking up, I saw my brother West looking down on me smirking. His brown-blond hair was reflecting the sun, making it look an odd orange color that would have looked like the color of a basketball. Usually it sort of looks like dirt, but today a basketball. If we wern't in the middle of a battle fighting for our lives I might have called him basketball head. His hands were folded in front of him and he was grinning. His brown coat fluttered around him because of the wind, making him look sort of mysterious. More like some random detective that couldn't even figure out who had stolen his lunch money. His brown eyes continued to laugh at me, adding to my embarrassment. I've been told that our eyes look the same, which only makes me feel worse. "You should be thanking me."

"Ah huh, for what?" I replied back; because getting me to thank him was like asking a bull to give you milk.

West pointed to the dead man behind me. I had forgotten he was even there, which worried me a little. "You're handsome knight in shining armor had come to the damsels rescue, again."

"You mean. .. you. . you killed him?" I'm shocked now.

He nodded. "Surprised?"

I shook my head. "Not at all. Only you would have the heart to ―" He then shushed me, pressing his finger to my lip. "What now?" I whispered. To my left I heard an unearthly scream that sent shivers down my spine. Somewhere else I heard screaming, and if it was possible the sound of a sword penetrating skin and headed for a bone. I then realized what type of world I lived in. Guns fired into the air, shrieking as it made its way to human flesh.

"I heard something scream to our right." West pointed out. Quietly, we began moving in that direction. After making my way there, without stumbling over any big rocks that covered the ground, West pointed in front of me. There was a girl in front of us, and she was trying to help this elderly man make his way across the field. So far, it didn't look like anyone but us had spotted them and I had no idea how West had even heard them moving. We tiptoed forward.

"Please grandpa, we have to keep moving," the girl was begging the elderly man. His face looked pained as he took each step, for he must be at least eighty years old. Whatever the age was it was much too old to be walking near a huge battlefield. The girl thought had brown hair that was tied in a high pony tail and had beautiful grey eyes. She was wearing a blue dress that only the capitol people would wear, but it still the dress looked far to expensive for even a average capitol citizen to wear. "Step over the rock." West and I watched as the man slowly lifted his leg. How they had even gotten this far was very questionable.

West quickly walked forward. "What the heck? West!" I whispered, but he kept going. I raced after him, forgetting about our stealth cover and how we were probably blowing it right now. "West!" I said a little louder. This time he heard me, and he slowed down a little bit, but not much.

He turned around. "Do you see her clothes? You have to have a lot, I mean, a lot if you can buy something that fancy and that shade of blue. Their probably spies or something." West had stopped. _The old man? _I thought. _He couldn't possibly be a spy. _

When I had finally caught up with West the girl was standing protectively in front of her grandfather. She had a sword in front of her that looked oddly like jade, a stone that hadn't been seen in years. "What do you want?" she asked, and then she turned her head around to face the old man. "Run Grandpa, please." The old man nodded and then began to hobble off in the opposite direction.

West and I began to walk forward, and so did the girl. "Get the old dude," West said to me. I nodded and began to run around them but the girl screamed.

"No!" she screamed, then lowered her voice, "Please, we don't mean any harm. I'll even surrender if you want that, just please don't hurt us." She dropped her sword to the ground and made her way to her grandfather. Slowly, she wrapped her arms protectively around him and faced us. "It's ok grandfather, we're going to make it." The old man nodded and rested his head on her shoulder.

West wasn't buying it. "Then what the heck are you doing here? You did come on that plane, didn't you? You did come from the Capitol, correct?"

"We stowed away, please, we . . . we have money, anything, just let us go." West took several steps forward and she flinched. I just stood around and watched everything. For some reason I wasn't sure what I wanted to happen, I mean, that girl was the enemy, and if West decided that enough was enough then sure, he'll kill them. I had never doubted West's designs' before, and I wasn't about to start to now.

"You stowed away, in that dress?" West pointed out.

She nodded. "We were at a party. There was a party for the B8's take off." West raised an eyebrow.

"We . . . we have . . . information that can . . . can . . . help."It was the first time I heard the old man mutter anything except an occasional cough. The girl, obvious that she didn't want this information given out closer her eyes and wrapped her arms even tighter around her grandfather.

"We'll give it to you; just let us leave in peace. I promise that you won't ever see us again and that we won't harm anyone." She pleaded. I knew now what was going to happen next; West would take the information and then hold them prisoner. I mean, seriously, he wasn't going to let them go that easily. And that's what exactly happens. _I know my brother way to well._ I thought as West led the new prisoners back towards District Four.

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A/N: Too much blood? Too little fighting? IDK. What do you guys prefer?


	3. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reviewing everyone!**

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"_Someday you will find a place, a place where love takes over hate." –Hillary Duff_

In the end we had won the battle, loosing less than fifty people total. Although a couple people were injured, it was nothing severe and the whole town was celebrating. In the night sky, torches and street lamps lit by fire brightened up the scene as people danced in the center of the plaza. If you listened hard enough over the screaming of the crowd you would be able to here the ocean. I clapped along with the beat, smiling as if nothing were wrong, as if we weren't in the middle of some hectic war where so many things could go wrong.

I felt someone move in beside me on the bench. Alex, my best friend, took something out of his pocket. "Saved you something," he says, unwrapping whatever was in his hands. When it's finally open I see that it's a piece of chocolate, squished and melted from being in his pocket so long.

"Oh my gosh!" I said, taking the piece from him, "Where did you get this?" Our District hasn't seen a piece of chocolate since the Capitol had renamed our world Panam, ? Now, it's talked of as a legend, and people make it sound so good that one would imagine the God's eating it for dinner. I looked up at him, my mouth open with shock and awe. I stuffed it in my mouth and even though it was squished and melted, it tasted better than anything I've ever tasted. I had only had this one other time, on my birthday a couple years back.

"Well?" I said while I was still stuffing the chocolate into my mouth. _Oh my gosh this is so good. _"Where," chew, "did you," chew, "get, "chew," this?"

Alex laughed and then leaned forward to whisper into my ear. "Don't tell anyone, but my mom found these books washed up from the ocean. It was inside this treasure chest thing. So it had all these types of books, like fairy tales and books about the moon. One of them was called "Cooking To Extremes", and it had all these recipes for food. One of them was about how to make chocolate, and my mom was able to import some ingredients from her friends in District Eleven." Alex looked so pleased with himself when he leaned away. His sandy blond hair looked brown in the light, and a huge shadow passed over his pale face.

My mouth was open with awe. "That's so cool." I said. Alex nodded. Around us, someone switched the songs from a slow, elegant song to a faced pace one. People laughed and swung their partners around, throwing their heads back with glee. I laughed and then began clapping my hands to this rhythm, and beside me Alex drummed on his legs. "This is awesome."

"No der." Alex replied, and then he took my hand and dragged me to the center.

"No please Alex, I can't dance." Alex laughed and told me that I could do it. My cheeks were probably bright red from even being on the dance floor and I tried to pull Alex back to our bench. "Oh God, please help me." I begged, but we were already in the crowd of dancers. People around us were doing crazy moves on the ground to slow dances. I think I would have finally given in when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around, and came face to face with West.

He leaned in closer, then whispered to me, "I need you to come home, now." He looked deadly serious, so I knew this wasn't some time to complain. I looked regretfully over at Alex and then with my eyes I tried to tell him I was sorry. He shrugged, as if to say "good luck getting out of it next time" then disappeared into the crowd. West grabbed my hand and then dragged me back to our house.

West's hands were rough and calluses scratched my hands the whole way back. I tried to struggle out of his grip but he was too strong. "What the heck West?" I wanted to scream at him.

By the time we had reached our home I had given up trying to release my hand and I was walking limply behind him. West had never been that rough with me before, and I'm sad to say I'm scared to find out what had made him like this.

Inside the house our father was pacing in the kitchen, and he looked deep in thought. His hair was flying everywhere from today's battle and he still had dirt in some places on his face and shirt. On his back, which really scared me was the huge mass of red blood. I wasn't sure if it was his or not, but it still made me worry. The fact that my father could be some mass murderer sent chills down my spine. When we entered the kitchen my father stopped pacing and stared at us.

My father shook his head in disapproval. "I want to talk to you Winnie," I glanced at West, then back at my father,"and West, go figure out if our guests are hungry." Without a work West headed off.

My father sat down and motioned for me to sit at the seat across from him. "What were you guys thinking?" he asked right as I sat down. Instantly, I knew he was talking about the girl we had "captured" from the battle earlier. He didn't look disapproving, but he didn't look proud or anything like that. I guess he just sort of looked . . . confused.

I shrugged. "It was all West's idea."

"Why in the world would West bring them back here? Is it because he thinks the girls pretty, because ―"

"No." I said my brain ready to stand up for my brother. "The old man said he had information."

"Well," my father chucked, but not one of amusement, one more of mockery. "I had West search them. They had nothing on them except for a necklace, that jade sword, some money, and a few pieces of paper. It's very possible that they have no information at all, and the old man just told you that so you would let them live."

The realization settled into me. How stupid were we?

"I don't know . . . "

"Think about it Winnie. You are more mature than West will ever be, I need you to think about what's right and stand up for that."

I stood up. "You do know that the only options we had were taking them in prisoner or kill them?" Did he really expect a fifteen and an eighteen year old to kill two maybe innocent people?

My father shrugged. "I just expect you to do what is right." He stood up and put his hand on my shoulder, leaving it there for a few seconds before leaving the room. _I don't know_, I thought_. I don't know what to do anymore. _

That night I woke up to crying. It wasn't me, I'm sure of that, and it wasn't West, who didn't cry anymore. The sound was coming from the room next to me, where the strange Capitol girl and her grandfather were being kept. I pressed my ear against the wall and tried to listen.

"Where did you expect us to run to?" I heard the girl say. I assumed she was talking to her grandfather, but when I didn't hear a response I began to wonder. "There's no place safe for us." I heard her say. This time I heard the old man's muffled response, but it wasn't clear enough for me to make out.

I could picture the scene well enough, the girl sitting on the bed while her grandfather comforted her, the way she had done yesterday when we threatened to kill her. She was probably whipping her tears away on her beautiful blue dress. For a second I wondered about her, what her life had been like before she had left. It must have been nice, with all that money, living in the Capitol city where they never had to work or do anything? To be able to sit around while people like us made and grew their food, mined their coal, and discovered their technology? I thought of everyone I had loss because of the Dark Days, of everyone that was at risk of death.

I don't think I hated her, but I didn't like her either. I hated her because of her background, where she had come from. I hated her because of the dress she was wearing, a dress that no one I've ever know had been able to wear. In fact, I've never even seen a blue in that rich shade.

In the end, I guess I fell asleep hating her, because it was the easiest thing to do.

Alex stopped by this morning with a whole tray of chocolate.

When I had opened the door and saw the tray, my whole face lit up and a squeezed Alex, ok fine, hugged him so hard he winced. "Don't kill the chocolate bringer," he said, and then smiled. I've always loved his smile, and now I love it even more because he brought me chocolate. I took the tray from him and then sat it down on the table where the Capitol girl and West were eating.

"Guess what Alex brought," I said, my smile so big I was afraid my face wasn't long enough to contain it, "chocolate!" I squealed. Alex stepped into the room and then sat down at a seat. He carefully cut the chocolate into squares and then plunged his fingers in to take a square out.

"Sorry," he said, licking his chocolate covered fingers, "It was to tempting." Across the table, West's eyes danced as he eyed the chocolate, but his pride wouldn't let him take any. What pride and chocolate had to do with anything I had no idea at all, so I used a fork and took a square out for him. He mumbled thanks and then began to eat it. Then, I scooped one out for myself and was about to take a bite out of it when I stopped.

I looked at the girl."Do you want one?"

She shook her head. "It's ok. I think I'll let you enjoy it yourselves." How could she not want the chocolate? I guess I let my shock show too much because she began, "Chocolate brownies aren't really rare at the Capitol." A.k.a. they have chocolate everyday!

_Brownies? Is that what this is called? _But then I realized that Alex was staring at the Capitol girl like she was from Mars or something. Then, confusion turned to fear and then he looked at me. At first I was confused, maybe he was allergic to something in the chocolate, but then I realized the mistake.

"No Alex, it's not like that . . . . I can explain." I began, rushing out words to try and keep him from leaving. But he quickly stood up and began to back away from me. "Alex, wait . . . just . . .. just listen!"

"What the heck Winnie?" His eyes darted to the Capitol girl, as if she was going to pull a gun and shoot him.

"I swear she's harmless! She's a prisoner!"

"You talk to her like she's a friend! You let her eat at your freaking table!" He was screaming out of fear, I told myself. He's not mad at me . . . he's Alex. Were best friends. That girl isn't going to change anything between us. Somewhere, in the back of my mind I heard something say "well, at least he didn't take the chocolate back," but I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind.

Alex walked out of the room and slammed the door shut. For a second I was worried he would tell someone, that he would turn us in, but that too I didn't think would happen. But still . . . .

Inside I turned to glare and West, then at the capitol girl. West noted my anger towards her. "Elesa didn't mean to do that Winnie. You have to believe me."

"Well," I replied, "this _Elesa_ had probably sent my best friend over to the officials to turn us in. You better start packing West, no wait. You might want to start writing your will, because we're housing the enemy, which gets you killed!" I screamed.

Why couldn't he understand it? For a second I remembered what my father had said. _I just expect you to do what's right. _There was no right or wrong anymore father, I wanted to scream that to him. _There's no more right or wrong, this is the Dark Days daddy. People who play by the rules are the people who get killed. _

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A/N: . . . . . read and review!


	4. Chapter 3

**So for a while I had hoped that this story would do well, but obviously I was wrong. I've already written four more chapters, and if I can get 15 - 20 review with the next four, I may keep writing. If not, this whole story goes on pause/quits, and I move onto some other one. So maybe it's because of the summary, but seriously, I'm trying. I'll change it if you want. No, strike that. I'm changing it.**

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_". . . . and I wonder at where I am and who I am and what I have missed because I have been afraid for so long of moments just like this, places of touching and speaking and letting others in, and even now I'm afraid, but I'm in a new place, a place where I can't go back, a place I am being sucked to against my will." _- The Miles Between, Mary E. Pearson

I learned a couple things in the last few days:

1)Never take a Capitol citizen and her grandfather prisoner, for it will only end up badly.

2)When your best friend comes over and brings you chocolate, don't mention that the girl sitting across from him is from the Capitol.

3)If numbers one and two do happen, don't avoid eye contact with him. He'll think you're really guilty when you're not.

4)That random Capitol girls name is really Elesa Everdeen, and I think West might have a crush on her.

5)Her old man's name is Krink (he wouldn't give us his last name, but I assume it's also Everdeen).

So in the midst of all that, I still have my sanity, a big brother who still cares about me, and a mother and father who love me, even though they're gone the whole day catching fish near the beaches. Oh yeah, I also gained some random Capitol girl named Elesa as my friend, along with her grandfather who can't even make it up the front steps.

What I've lost? I've lost my best friend and his delicious chocolates.

West wanted to show Elesa the ocean today, so we headed down towards the beach. On the streets, people had started to stare at Elesa, but she held her head up high and pretended like she didn't care. Her brown hair swayed behind her and she had taken off that dress, for it would have drawn too much attention to her. Anyone who asked who she was just got our standard answer: she's one of our mother's friends in District One.

You can tell by the way Elesa looked at the ocean that she's never seen something like it before. The way it slaps onto the beach and the recedes back makes it look alive, like the most powerful thing in the world. Today was a good day to come, for the color was a blue-green color that looked clear in the suns rays.

As we waited for West to go start one of our many boats, Elesa and I waded in the shallow ends. She loved to go as far as she could before her clothes got wet, and after a while the bottom of her rolled up pants have been soaked through. Seaweed got caught on our legs and small fish darted past, only to be followed by shells and sand. Wherever I stepped, my footprints were engraved into the sand, making me feel like I could last forever.

Sometimes I wished we weren't in the middle of a war, and that it would be possible to enjoy the water without worrying about anything. Elesa kept glancing around, as if she were afraid of being caught doing such a thing. I laughed, making her turn to me. She raised an eyebrow.

"We didn't have anything like this, not even a small river or lake," she said, looking out at the sea.

I nodded. "Were the only district to be by the sea, all the others are far too inland to visit this." I picked up a stone from the waves. It was so smooth, all its rough edges washed away by the sea. _I wish we could be this rock, our mistakes washed away by the ocean, _I thought, thinking about all the lies I had told, about bring Elesa here against her will, and the way the man had looked at me when he died.

"What do you think is out there, past the horizon?" Elesa asked, squinting as if trying to see anything out there.

I shrugged.

No one thought about the world that might exist across the ocean anymore. Once, when I was younger my parents had told me stories about far away lands. There was one called China, and another called England. When the people at the Capitol took over, contact with those far away places ceased, and no one knows what happened to them.

After a long pause Elesa finally said, "I don't feel like a prisoner here."

"You really aren't. Once we realized you were telling the truth I guess there was nothing else we could do . . . I mean, you can't go back to the capitol ―"

"Well I don't even want to."

"―and there's no where else for you to go, so you're like honored guests . . . to a point." This time Elesa shrugged.

There was a long pause and then Elesa turned to me, her eyes looking more black than grey. "You may think that the Capitol is beautiful, full of color, and food, and rich people . . . that's all true, but there's more to it then meets the eye." Elesa shivered. "I was born into a very rich family. My father was a scientist, and his goal in life was to create these things called mutants. Some of them were horrible; one was like a dog, except they had the same eyes as dead people. Another ran like a cheetah on land, but it could also run on water and swim. That one was very good at tracking things; it had the most powerful nose ever."

"You're father made those?"

She nodded. "But there was one far, far, worse. I don't remember what it was called, but it was like a lizard, and they would whisper your name over and over, and they wouldn't stop hunting you until they found you and ripped you into pieces." Elesa wrapped her hands around herself, as if trying to protect herself from unseen forces.

"I still have nightmares about them. When my father realized how evil and corrupt the president was, he tried to escape. The president sent them loose on us, and we ran so fast. They whispered his name. . . . "

I stared at her as if she had grown a third eye on her forehead. Was that really possible? That the capitol was some sort of breeding zoo where they made new creatures? I thought of how sick that was. In the horizon I saw West with the boat. He was waving to us and shouting something.

"You guys are going to have to swim the rest of the way! I can't get the boat any farther or it's going to get stuck!" I looked at the distance between us, which was a good twenty feet away. _Well, at least I don't like this outfit that much. _

I dived into the water and began to swim, my legs kicking in the back. "Stop splashing!" I heard Elesa squeal, and then I realized I was kicking the water right in front of her face. She tried to cough out a bunch of water she had swallowed. _Opps . ... _

When I finally got a hand on the side of the boat, I realized that West had taken the boat Alex and I always shared. We had named it _Beyond the Horizon _because when we were kids we had imagined using this boat to sail to another land, like China or something. It was a small thing, with one sail and a small floor underneath the deck. There was a steering wheel that no one bothered to use and a huge compass that Alex had glued onto the mast using some wet rice, and then he let it dry. We had bet on how long it was stay, but when we realized that it wasn't coming off we canceled the bets, each of us only betting a couple of days. I climbed abroad.

"Why'd you choose this one?" I asked him, because all it did was bring back bad memories. It also made me realize I hadn't talked to Alex in days and that our chocolate supply was running low . . . not that I cared about the chocolate more than Alex.

West realized what he had done and apologized, saying that our parents had taken the other ones.

As West sailed the boat I skimmed my fingers on the water, letting it reach onto my arm. I haven't felt this free in a long time, ever since the Dark Days had begun. Even in the ocean, the threat of war still lingered in my mind, and I'm sure it was in West and Elesa's too.

But the water felt good, along with the sea breeze that flung my hair in all directions, and for once I felt as if we were at peace. No one on the boat spoke, trying to absorbed in the sea around them and to talk would only ruin a moment like this. A small distance away a few boats were huddled together, probably because they had found a large group of fish. Men had lowered the nets while women, men, and children worked to preserve them. Someone waved at us, then screamed hello. Even though we didn't know who it was, we waved. People were friendly like that, because they had used up all their anger and frustration at battle.

It seemed that even Elesa noticed that and she pointed it out. When West responded, he sounded a little unnerved, like he didn't like talking about the war with her. Who wouldn't, I mean, it was basically like giving information away to the enemy. "I guess there's only so much hate you can use before you run out of it, like gas. We use it all up . . . ."

"On my people," Elesa finished for him, "I get." West turned his head away from her, unable to show her his ashamed face. I've never seen my brother get unnerved so badly like that, and he seemed so uncomfortable just straying to a topic like the war.

We sailed the rest of the way to shore in silence, and when we arrived I offered to take the boat back to the harbor.

Sitting in the empty boat so many memories dawned on me. This had been the same boat my friend Robin had painted the outside of, a lovely hue of sea green that only Robin was able to paint. In the end, her parents had been murdered in the war and she had been sent to an orphanage in District Thirteen. For a second I missed Robin, missed all the times she, Alex, and I had laid down on the grass and imagined the clouds were animals that only existed in fairytales. Another memory consisted of Alex's compass that was stuck there forever by some dried rice. On the sail, if you looked hard enough you would be able to see the picture of a horse with a horn sticking out of its forehead. Robin had been amazed by them, stories mythical creatures that were passed down with the legends of a world called the United States. Robin had thought that those horses had actually lived once, in the old world, but were killed off by hunters in the Capitol who used their horns as weapons.

I gazed upon or sad sail as it fluttered loosely in the wind and realized that Robin could be dead now. For a while no one had heard from Thirteen, but then a few months into the war they reappeared and led several battles. Robin could be dead now, lying on a battle field while she bled to death with no one to look for her body, no one to notice that she was missing.

When I reached the harbor my mood had dropped just by thinking about Robin, Alex, and mythical horses with horns. As I drifted the boat into our slot, I noticed that Alex was staring at me. He was tying a small raft to the dock opposite of me, and he looked to be finished. He must have waited for me to enter so he could talk to me.

I was just about to continue and pretend I hadn't noticed him when he asked me, "I didn't know you took the boat." I shrugged. It wasn't like the boat only belonged to him only; it belonged to Robin, him, and me . . . and a little bit of West because he was the only one with money to pay for it.

"I was going to give my father lunch when I realized the boat was gone." He was choosing his words carefully, I could tell.

"Sorry, we were . . . "I was going to say "show Elesa around the ocean" but then I realized that wasn't a very good idea. "We were just using it for a small swim." I gestured down to my wet clothes. Alex nodded then turned to walk away. At first I wanted to call his name out, but then instantly rejected the very thought.

I hated myself for not begging him to listen to the truth, but I also hated him for not believing what I had said to him.

That night as I lay in my bed and stared at the ceiling, I began to wonder why I hadn't called out his name. I wondered why I was so afraid that he would judge me so quickly. . . . and I fell asleep dreaming an alternate future, where I had called after Alex and told him the truth.


	5. Chapter 4

**Im not sure how this story will turn out, or if I'll finish it . . . .**

**but heres another chapter.**

**read and review!**

* * *

_"Sometimes I think the hardest thing about loving someone is not knowing if they will love you back." -unknown_

I woke up to the sound of a TV. As I crept down the hallway the voice from the TV grew louder and louder, until it stopped, only to be followed by the sounds of gunshots and screaming. I ran the rest of the way down and grabbed the knife on the table next to me. _If were being attacked . . . _I thought, _the Capitol better start to worry about me. _I knew that I was probably the last person they would worry about, a fifteen year old who couldn't even talk to her best friend without freaking out, but it was a nice thought to keep me going.

I rushed into the room where the TV was located, only to find it still on, still playing, and my whole family surrounding it. Elesa was standing in the kitchen, obviously making something to eat. Even thought West and the rest of my family trusted her, I was worried she might be sneaking some Capitol poison inside our food.

I took a seat next to my mother, whose eyes seemed glued to the TV.

Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I realized that the gun shots and screaming was coming from the TV. There was no fight, luckily for me, so I dropped the knife and then tried to concentrate on what our president was saying.

Ok, fine. He's not really our president; more like the powerful person in the world who no one wants to admit is still alive. If the people from the Districts had our way, his head would be rolling on the floor before you could count to ten. President Burch was standing on the TV smiling in his evil I'm going to kill you smile. His eye color looked red, but that was probably because of our low quality TV. In real life, I'm assuming their some light brown- yellow color that looks like the color of crap. He was wearing some fancy black suit that could only cost a few hundred bucks and he was talking about something. Behind him looked like a District, but it was up in smoke and looked empty.

The camera turned from President Burch's face, finally, and then began to show us pictures of the District. I wasn't sure which one it was, but which ever one it was was gone. Houses were only half standing, its roof burnt off from the ashes that fell along with the bombs. Trees stumps were all that remained of once hundred feet tall trees.

No one spoke in my house.

No one had to. I'm not sure if they were all mourning the District, or thinking "at least it's not ours. We still have a few more months to live."

"What district was that?" I heard my mouth say. My mother turned to me, her eyes were red with tears, and she opened her mouth . . . but no sound came out. She hiccupped. "Which district is that?" I asked again, sounding more forceful then intended. But hey, I needed to know these things, and no one was bothering to tell me.

It was Krink that finally answered. "District Five." His eyes weren't red at all, just opened wide with shock. For someone who couldn't even walk to the kitchen without tripping, he looked the strongest out of all of us right now.

I nodded and continued to stare at the screen. _At least it's not our District, _I kept thinking, _It's not ours. _

"This is what is going to happen to you Districts," President Burch pointed at the ruins behind him, "smoke, fire, and death." He let death linger for a little while on his tongue, just to get the message across. I heard someone shiver next to me.

Elesa set a tray of food down onto the table and told us to have as many as we could eat. My mother dashed from her seat next to me and to the table where she took two of the bread like food. From my seat it looked like scones, but when my mother came back I realized it was cookies. Inside each one were small nuts and chips of chocolate. It looked so good, my mouth watered. _Poison_, I kept thinking.

"This war is coming to an end," President Burch said, and then the TV went blank. _Oh joy, what a nice message President Burch. Sure, the end is coming, but for you! _When the TV turned off West and my father went to get some of Elesa's home made cookies. "You're all going to die!" I wanted to scream, and then add the part about poison in the cookies.

"Winnie," I heard someone say, their mouth full of cookies, "want one? Their really good." _Poison. _My mind screamed.

"No thanks West, you can have my share." He shrugged and then took another cookie.

Soon the whole house smelled like Elesa's poisonous cookies which made me gag and cry of joy at the same time. Even though Elesa seemed like a gift from God who couldn't possible do anything wrong, I didn't trust her. Yes, I thought of her as a friend, but more in the "don't trust" category.

"I need some fresh air. Is it just me, or does this whole house stink?" I said, heading for the door. The scent of poisonous cookies was cluttering my mind, and I needed to think. At my comment about the whole house stinking, my father raised his arm and sniffed his elbows. "It's not you dad." He looked relieved as I said that.

Outside the first place I headed for was the beach. For some strange reason that I couldn't explain, the ocean made my head clear. It sort of swept away everything that was on my mind and then left it with a clear, clean slate. The ocean just did that to me.

I stepped into the waves. They splashed against my legs as they came, and then went back into the sea. The tides continued to do that, but all I could do was watch.

I looked out into the sea. _What was out there? Where their other worlds out there, just waiting to be discovered? Did the people out there forget about us? _

While I was staring out into the ocean trying to find another piece of land, that was when I saw the boat some distance off. It was tall and big, with metal protecting its huge body. As soon as that one appeared, another one appeared next to it, this one even bigger than that one.

At first I thought that they were part of China's navy or something, but then I saw the logo on its sail. It was the Capitol's symbol.

_Ohmygodohmygodogmygod. _I ran back to the District.

"The Capitol's coming!" I screamed as loud as I could. "The Capitol's on our beaches! Run!" A few people came out of their houses, and when they heard the word Capitol they panicked. Soon people were pushing and shoving each other, screaming as they tried to get their children to the safety of the woods. "The Capitol!"

I ran into the next block where Alex was standing outside of his house. I ran up to him and grabbed his arm, panic overtaking me. I wanted him to get out of here alive. "You have to get out of here . . . . the Capitol is on the beach!"

"Wait, what?"

"Don't ask questions!" I screamed and then shoved him towards the door. "Get your family and get out of here!" I continued to run down the street warning people about the Capitol. Already I could here the screams from the beach, blood chilling screams that pierced the air. Gun shots rang into my ears over the pumping of my heart.

I ran down the street until I saw Macey, the captain of our District Army. "Macey! Their on the beach! Itriedtogetpeopletoleavebut . . . whatdoIdo?"

Macey looked at me. She was a coupe years older than me and had long, shiny black hair. Even though she was one of the nicest people I knew, she had the heart of a tiger on the battle field. "First," she said, running towards me, "get yourself out of here. We'll handle things around here."

I hesitated, and she noticed that.

"Go." And for a second, I thought I saw her smile, like this was all a fun game to her. "Well handle things down here. The Capitol doesn't know what their up against here." I nodded, and then ran in the opposite direction, the direction towards the forest.

I was running so hard, my legs felt like jelly and my breath as heavy as a rock. With my knife in one hand I dashed in and out of alleyways only I knew about and in and out of buildings. Around me, small skirmishes had broken out, Macey's soldiers against the Capitols'.

I didn't stop at all.

I kept running.

Abruptly I felt footsteps behind me, quickening in pace with mine. _What the? _And then I felt the air wiz by my head. Something slammed into me and I fell towards the ground. I rolled over so I could face my attacker and then realized that my knife had fallen out of my grasp. My sad, pathetic knife that I so longed for right now was standing a few feet away from me . .. . under the foot of a Capitol soldier. The same one from the fight a few days earlier. The one with the scars on his head, marking the sign of battles survived.

He noticed me looking at his scars and smiled. "I got another one on my back from you slave." I closed my eyes and waited for him to bring his sword down onto me. And even in the midst of the war, the fighting, the screaming, all I could here was the sound of his laughter.


End file.
